Pattern chains



April 10, 1956 s. GARNER ETAL 2,741,107

PATTERN CHAINS Filed March 9, 1953 Inventor STANLEY GRRNER ROBERT BHNKS E! uma w. H. PORTER 7% MM 1 ltorney United States Patent PATTERN CHAINS S ey ner Robert B n Al a W l am e ry Porter, Burton-on-Trent, England, assignors to F. N. F. Limited, Burion-on-Trent, England, a British company App a c 9 1 3, S a n 341,046 Claims priority, application Great Britain March 10, 1952 Claims. (C1. 6,6-e156) This invention relates to chains and particularly to pattern chains such as are used in looms and knitting machines, and similar textile machinery, to control the relationship between the movements of the different parts of the machine. Such a chain is made up of links which provide a succession of cam surfaces to actuate a follower which rides on the surface of the chain as it passes round a pattern drum or wheel. By changing the links in a chain or interchanging such links, a pattern cycle of any desired length and complexity, within the ability of the machine, can be repeated continuously.

One form of such a chain comprises a succession of links, each consisting of a tongue projecting centrally forward from a part which is U-shaped in plan view, the arms of the U serving as a fork to embrace the corresponding tongue on the succeeding link. The links are connected together by a pin passing through holes in the arms of the fork and the tongue of the succeeding link. The under surface of all the links is made so as to lie fiat on the surface of the roller or wheel around which the chain passes, and the diameter of the pitch circle of the pins, as they pass round the drum or wheel, is the same for all the links. The cam effect is obtained by varying the height, as seen in side view, the follower being led up from a lower to a higher link by a cam surface having a slight lead formed on the tongue of the higher link. When the follower passes from a higher to a lower link, no such lead is provided, and the follower drops straight off the back of the higher link on to the tongue of the next link, so that after a time this part of the link shows considerable wear.

In warp knitting machines in which such tongue and fork link chains are employed to operate the guide bars of the needles, there are usually two or more guide bars to be operated, so that the usual practice is to run each chain around sprockets or a multigrooved driving drum, side by side, with the pins holding the links of each chain together being common to all the chains, extending across the space between the chains. Consequently, no timing or angular adjustment in the relationship between the chains is possible except by dismantling the chains and reassembling them. Moreover, with the type of link already described, it has not been possible to reverse the links so as to use the cam surface on the tongues to give a gradual drop to the guide bar except by reversing the whole chain. Thus a single needle lift has been produced by the guide bar riding up onto a higher link, and the subsequent drop of the needle has been caused by the guide bar running off the end of this link onto a succeeding lower link, without a gradual lowering of the guide bar.

The present invention enables pattern chains, particularly for machines such as high speed warp knitting machines, to be made up of links in which the sloping cam surface is provided on the part of the link best suited to withstand the wear occasioned by the passage of the guide bar. Moreover, the links may be made ice reversible and interchangeable so that a falling Cam surface may be obtained simply by reversing a link having a rising cam surface, thus providing a sloping face down which the guide bar rides instead of dropping sharply off the rear end of the link. At high speeds this is of particular importance as the violence of movement of the guide bars and consequent force on the chain are substantially reduced. Moreover, the various chains may run independently, so that any degree of angular adjustment between different chains can be obtained.

According to the invention, the pattern chain is made up of links each consisting of a body portion from each end of which at least one tongue extends for hinging the link to the neighbouring links, and the sloping cam surface of the link is formed solely on the outer surface of the body portion which is sufiiciently long to obviate the sloping cam surface extending over the tongues. Preferably, an equal number of similar tongues of equal widths are formed at each end of the link and spaced to accommodate tongues of the same width, and the tongues are ofiset transversely at each end of the link in opposite directions so that the link is reversible in a chain. Each link may have its own hinge pin separate from those of the links of adjacent chains, the ends of each pin projecting from each side to engage a notched sprocket wheel for driving the chain, the hinge pins in si ccessive links passing through holes in the tongues of the mating links for'hinging them together.

Examples of links according to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a complete pattern chain made up of links according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a link of the chain seen in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the link seen in Figure 2.

In the illustrative example, the chain is made up of links 1, 2, 3, 4 etc., passing round a driven sprocket wheel 5 and an idle wheel 6. The follower 7 is held in resilient engagement with the outer surface of the links as they pass round the wheel 5 so that it moves towards and away from the centre of the wheel 5 according to the variations in height of the profile of the chain, thus providing a reciprocating movement which is transmitted to the guide bars. The movement of the guide bars thus depends upon the arrangement of the links in the chain. The link 2 in Figures 2 and 3 is seen to have a pair of tongues 8 at each end spaced so as to admit the corresponding tongues 9 of the link 1 and 10 of the link 3. The link 1 is hinged to the link 2 by the pin 11 and the link 2 is hinged to the link 3 by the pin 12.

It will beseen that the upper surface of the link is fiat over the tongues as at 13, 14. The sloping part of the surface is at 15 and does not extend as far as the tongues at each end. Thus if the wheel 5 is rotating in a clockwise direction so that the link '2 is travelling from left to right, the guide bar follower 7 will move off the link 3 over the tongues 10 and 8 along the upper surface 14 perfectly smoothly, will then descend the sloping surface 15 and will once more be stationary by the time the surface 13 and the tongues 8 and 9 at the left hand end of the link 2 are passing beneath it. It will be seen merely by knocking out the pins 11 and 12, the link 2 can be reversed to provide an upward movement to the follower 7.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, a pin 16 is driven through the body of each link so that its projecting end can engage notches 17 in the rim of the sprocket wheel 5 so that the chain is driven positively. The position of the pins is kept as near the centre of mass of each link as possible consistent with all the pins lying at the same radius as they pass round the wheel 5.

We claim:

1. A link for a textile pattern chain comprising a body portion, at least one tongue extending from each end of said body portion for hinging the link to neighboring links, a continuous cam surface extending over said body portion and said tongues, said cam surface having an inclined portion solely on said body portion, and a pin extending transversely through said body portion, the exposed ends of said pin forming dogs for engaging driving sprockets.

2. A pattern chain for a textile machine comprising links according to claim 1, in which the tongues of adjacent links at each hinge are the same size, thus providing a continuous cam surface from link to link.

3. A link according to claim 1, further comprising an equal number of similar tongues extending from. each end of said body portion, said tongues being spaced to accommodate tongues of the same widths, and said tongues being oifset transversely at each end in opposite directions, whereby the link is reversible in a chain made of similar links.

4. A pattern chain for a textile machine comprising at least one first link formed with a body portion, at least one tongue extending from each end of said body portion for hinging said link to neighboring links and a cam surface rising continuously from a low point near one end of said body portion to a high point near the other end of said body portion, said cam surface being in clined solely over said body portion, and a counterpart link having the same configuration as said first link but reversed in position so that its cam surface descends continuously, adjacent tongues at each hinge point in said chain being of the same size, so that a continuous cam surface is provided along the chain.

5. A pattern chain for a textile machine comprising a plurality of links each formed with a body portion, an equal number of similar tongues extending from each end of said body portion for hinging the links to neighboring links, said tongues being spaced to accommodate tongues of the same widths and said tongues being offset transversely at each end in opposite directions, and a continuous cam surface extending over said body portion and said tongues, at least one of said links having its cam surface rising continuously from a low point near one end of said body portion to a high point near the other end of said body portion and at least one counterpart link having the same configuration as said lastmentioned link but reversed in position so that its cam surface descends continuously, and adjacent tongues at each hinge in said chain being the same height, thus providing a continuous cam surface from link to link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

